


Toxin Z23

by BuzzCat



Series: 30 Day Cheesy Tropes And Rare Pairs Challenge [30]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, someone dies but it isn't the main couple, zombie!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 23:12:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8943319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuzzCat/pseuds/BuzzCat
Summary: It's the zombie apocalypse. Darcy hasn't heard from anyone in months. In a fit of nostalgia, she returns to Ground Zero for the destruction of humanity: Stark Tower.





	

Darcy stared at the remnants of what was once her home. Jane’s machinery, cobbled together with duct tape from the start, was metallic rubble, spattered with blood from when this had been Ground Zero.

It was two years ago that it had all gone to hell. Much in the way penicillin was discovered on dirty dishes, Toxin Z23 was made in a coffee cup forgotten beneath the counter in a basement lab at Stark Industries. An unlucky intern had found it and when he picked it up, dropped it. It had shattered and when he’d tried to clean up, a shard stabbed his hand and that was it. Humanity met its downfall at the hand of a clumsy intern and a Stark Industries mug.

The only reason Darcy knew this was JARVIS and his all-seeing eye. It was the last thing Tony had told her before their last phone call had cut out. That was a year and a half ago and Darcy hadn’t heard anything since.

She knew Tony was dead. He had to be. She’d heard stories from survivors she’d come across. First, they’d been of hope: Captain America will save us. Stark Industries is working on a vaccine. After the first year and once the quarantines were lifted simply because there was no one left to enforce them, Darcy heard no more stories. Still, she’d held onto her hope. Tony was too busy saving the world to worry about some girlfriend he had. Darcy knew Jane had been taken to Asgard before the toxin hit the mass-annihilation stage and Darcy hoped she’d stayed there. She’d had hope up until she’d had to gun down Steve Rogers. She wouldn’t have recognized him, were it not for the tattered blue uniform. His jaw was held on by muscles on one side, the rest of it dangling from his face. He must have been a recent convert, as he was still decomposing. Darcy had sniped him from the roof and he’d exploded like a gory piñata. She still had nightmares.

She shook her head to clear the memories, then gingerly picked her way across the lab, avoiding the major blood pools. It was her first time visiting the Tower after New York had been evacuated. She walked over to the stairwell and pushed open the door with her sleeve covering her hand.

She climbed up the stairs, up and up. With a wry grin, she thought back to before the world had gone to hell. Back when she would have been puffing for air after climbing the first couple flights and after that asked JARVIS to send her an elevator. Now, she climbed without struggle. In the new world, it was either get fit or die trying, quite literally. When she reached the top, she pushed the door open. Bright sunlight bathed the city and Darcy was struck anew by the quiet. This high up, even the moans of the Z23 victims below were silenced. There were no sirens, no planes, no honking horns of civilians late to work. Darcy remembered all the background noise when she had waited on this roof for Tony to fly back after each mission. Her chair was still where she’d left it, bolted to the floor and now coated in dirt. She sat in it anyway, sighing at the familiar feel. As Darcy look over the horizon, she wished. She wished she hoped Tony was on his way. She wished she knew his ETA, his health status. She wished she remembered how it felt to be held in his arms as they lay in bed and talked about nothing in particular.

Darcy jumped when she felt something touch her chest, only to realize that it was a tear. Without realizing, she’d been crying. Then, she heard the door slam open behind her. Darcy stood, spun, and had her knife out before she heard the irritated voice,

“What the f—“

Darcy dropped her knife. She remembered that voice.

Tony Stark stood in the doorway, frozen at the sight of her. Before Darcy knew it, she was running. She jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. His arms wrapped around her back and Darcy kissed him, covering his face in quick kisses like she was trying to learn his features with her lips. He kissed her back, holding her tight. When they parted for breath, Tony leaned his forehead against Darcy’s,

“You’re alive.” he whispered, one hand still against her back while the other came up to stroke her cheek.

“And kicking.” she whispered back. A tear started to trail down his face,

“JARVIS couldn’t find you and no one knew anything and I heard none of the interns had made it out and I thought…I thought…”

“Well, it would appear that Tony Stark, genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, thought wrong.” Darcy kissed his nose,

“And I have never been happier to be wrong.” he said. Darcy unwound her legs from around his hips and he set her down like she was made of spun glass,

“Are there others?” asked Darcy. Tony smiled,

“Yeah. I have a private island, entirely uninhabited by humans that we’ve been holed up on. Pepper has EXTREMIS in her system, which killed any Z23 she was exposed to. Bruce is damn near indestructible, so he’s there, working on a vaccine. About six months ago, Clint said he and Natasha were on a farm and safe. Thor and Jane live in Asgard and are trying to arrange a refugee camp for what’s left of Earth. Last I heard, Cap was scouting—“

“Cap’s dead.” said Darcy abruptly. Tony paled,

“The serum should have—“

“I shot him. He was bitten, decomposing. Looked like he was caught by a swarm. It wasn’t Steve anymore.” said Darcy, biting her lip. Tony nodded, but his eyes said he was far away. Darcy brought his arm up to wrap around her shoulders, tucking her head against his side, “Tony?” He looked down at her, “I wanna go home.” she said. Tony’s lips twitched into what vaguely resembled a smile and he kissed her forehead,

“Sounds good to me.”


End file.
